US Watch and Jewelry Sales: A Fourth Month of Decline

(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US fell for a fourth consecutive month in January. A mood of caution persists within the industry and, to some extent, among consumers. Trade is slow and production is low. The January fall is provisionally recorded at 2.1 per cent by the US Department of Commerce, though that is likely to revised next month. December was initially reported a loss of 1.9 per cent but has since been revised down, based on actual rather than estimated sales, to 3.1 per cent. Sales have now been falling since October last year but recent months may indicate a gradual recovery is under way. 

Growth in sales has been slow - below six per cent for every month since May 2022 - but has always managed to stay just about positive. The last time sales growth reached a low point like this was as we emerged from the initial Covid lockdowns. It was 1.1 per cent in June 2020, on its way up after hitting a record -55.9 per cent in April of that year.

Jewelry sales fell by 2.4 per cent and watch sales fell by 0.8 per cent during December, an average fall of 2.1 per cent.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has, for all practical purposes, ceased reporting sales by Specialty Jewelers. The last figures it released were for February 2021. In May it published its first set of revisions in almost a year - revising down sales for virtually all months from January 2019 to February 2021 - but we've heard nothing since.  IDEX Research will publish any new updates on specialty jewelers as and when they become available.

Assessment

The figures above may not look too encouraging, but Mastercard SpendingPulse reports a year-on-year growth in US jewelry sales of 5.5 per cent in January, based on all types of payment. It says that after nine months of stagnant growth, early Valentine's Day shopping may have helped drive sales. US inflation eased slightly for a seventh consecutive month, and stood at 6.4 per cent.